Reflector seal for lamps



I 1,614,731 c. E. GODLEY REFLECTOR SEAL FOR LAMPS Filed June 1'7, 1926 Patented Jan. 18, 1927.

UNITED STATES 1,614,731 PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. GODLEY, or YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR, BY mnsnn assronunn'rs,

TO 0. M. HALL LAMP COMPANY, A CORPORATION or MICHIGAN.

REFLECTOR SEAL FOR LAMPS.

Application filed June 17, 1926. Serial No. 116,692.

My invention relates to means for sealing lamp closures, and particularly tothe providing of an effective seal between the lens and: reflectorv of. a lamp at the mouth of the reflector.

In. automobile lamps, the eff ciency ofv the reflector and the extent of the resulting road illumination depends to a considerable extent on the effective exclusion of dust from the interior of the reflector. \Vith this in mind, it has been customary to dispose a packing ring between the lens of; the lamp door and a flange at the mouth of the reflector, so that this packing ring will be clamped in a sealing position when the door is attached.

It has also been customary to fasten the packing ring to. the reflector by means of glue or cement, with a view to retaining the ring on the reflector when the, door. is detached. Howevenglues or cements do not hold well on a highly polished surface, such as that obtained when a smooth metal reflector is silver plated, thereby making it comparatively easy for the moisture which enters the lamp on rainy days to soften the glue or cement beyond the holding power of such an adhesive. When this occurs, a detaching of the lamp door will readily allow the packing ring to drop out of the lamp. Even if the ring is not then coated with mud or the like so as to render it unsuitable for repeated service, the average lamp user has, no cement at hand for again securing the packing ring to the reflector. So also, even if the user were to obtain a substitute packing ring, which he rarely will do, he has no facilities for adequately attaching it to the reflector. Consequently, the loosening of adhesively attached packing rings has led to'countless instances ofreflector depreciation and is responsible for the ineffectiveness of a great many automobile lamps.

' My present invention aims to overcome these difliculties by securing the packing ring to the reflector through means which will be unaffected by moisture. It also provides securingmeans for this purpose which can readily be employed with standard types of reflectors and which will deform the packing ring, so as to provide a pair of concentric bearing surfaces on the lensengaging face of the ring.

Further and also more detailed objects will appear from the following specification and from the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, Fig. 1' is a. fragmentary diametric section through an automobile headlight equipped with my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged front elevation of a radially outer part of the reflector of the lamp, with a portion of a packingring secured to the reflector according tomy invention. i F ig. 3 isa similarly enlarged rear elevation of the same reflector and packing ring portions. i

Fig. 4 is a section taken along the axis of pile packing ring and on the line 4+4 of Ti 3. i

Fig. is an enlargement of a portion of Fig. 1, taken along the line 55 ofFig'. 4. Referring to the headlight portion of-Fig. 1, this showspart of a lamp body 1 provided at its mouth with an inwardly directed radial flange 2 and connected to thisflan e by anintermediate portion 3- through' which a hook end of asdoor retaining spring 4 operates after the manner more fu 1y described in my copen ing application No. 3,748, as filed January 23, 1926 on a headlight ponstruction. his spring exerts a rearward pressure on the inturned rear'edge 5 of the lens ring 6 of the lamp'doon which door also includes a lens 7.

The reflectors of the lamp has an outer radial flange 9 which bears'against the for ward face of the flange 2 on the lamp body,

the latter flange being disposed somewhat to the rear of the mouth of the reflector. Adjacent to its sziidmouth and radially inward of its flange 9, the reflector is provided with an annular ring-holding portion 10 which desirably is flat and in a plane at right angles to'the axis of the reflector Interposed between this ring-holding portion 10 and the lens 7 is a packing ring 11, which ring isof such a normal thickness that it will be compressed when the door is clamped to the lamp body by fastening means which in this case include the spring 4. i

To secure the packing ring to the said annular reflector portion'lO without employing an adhesive, Iprovide this annular portion with spaced perforations 14 and secure the packing ring to the said portion by interlocked threads which have their main portions extending respectively along the forward face of the packing ring and along the rear face of the said annular reflector portion 10. I also preferably interlock the said threads under suc h a tension as to cause the forward thread to form a decided indentation (or annular groove) in the middle of the front face of the packing ring.

In proceeding for this purpose, I first punch a series of uniformly spaced perforations 14 in the ring-holding reflector portion 10. These perforations preferably are punched from the rear of the reflector and with a punch which somewhat flares out the rear ends of the perforations, as shown in Fig. a, so as to provide rounded edges as bearing points for parts of the rear thread 12.

For the packing ring, I preferably employ a round wick comprising a cotton sheath 11 tightly braided around a core 11 consisting of loose cotton fibers extending longitudinally of the said sheath. A suitable length of such a packing ring is fed stepwise along the forward face of the said reflector portion 10 in a machine which also feeds the rear thread 12 along the back of that portion, and which stitches the forward thread 15 successively through the packing ring and the perforations 14; and interloops it with the rear thread 12.

WVith a machine for this purpose suitably tensioned, the resulting sewing of the packing ring to the reflector indents the ring longitudinally along its forward face, so as to dispose the main portions of the forward thread 15 somewhat to the rear of two forwardly convexed ring portions which are concentric with each other, namely the upper and lower portions of Fig. 5. The rear thread 12 is formed partly into loops 12 which extend upward respectively through the several perforations 14: and each of which loops may be indented at its bight into the packing ring. By rounding or flaring the rear ends of the perforations, I am able to employ ample tension for this purpose, thereby securing the packing ring rigidly to the reflector, without having the rear thread cut by the edges of these rear perforation ends, over which edges the looped portions of that thread are bent as shown in Fig. 4.

By thus sewing the packing ring to the reflector, I eliminate the use of any adhesive and obtain a permanent securing of the ring. Furthermore, the longitudinal indenting of the forward face of the packing ring affords two concentric bearing surfaces which can be compressed independently of each other, thus effectively affording two spaced packing rings which augment each other in their sealing action.

By employing a fiat reflector flange portion for engaging the rear face of the packing ring instead of the customary groove, I not only make it easier to punch the perforations 14c, but also facilitate the feeding of the packing ring against this reflector portion during the sewing operation. However, I do not wish to be limited to the use of a flat ring-holding reflector portion, nor to other details of the construction and arrangement above described, might obviously be made without departing either from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims. Nor do I wish to be limited to the use of my invention in connection with any particular shape of lens ring or in connection with the illustrated door-clamping spring.

I claim as my invention:

1. A lamp including, in combination, a forwardly open casing, a lens-carrying door secured to the mouth of the casing, a reflector within the casing and provided with a radial flange spaced rearwardly from the lens of the door, the flange having spaced perforations behind the packing ring, a packing ring interposed between the said lens and flange, and means securing the packing ring to the flange, the securing means including thread portions passing through the said perforations and compressing the transversely medial portion of the packing ring.

2. A lamp including, in combination, a forwardly open casing; a door secured to the mouth of the casing and including a lens; a reflector disposed within the casing and provided with an annular flange parallel to the rear face of the lens, the flange having spaced perforations; a packing ring interposed between the said flange and the lens and extending in front of the perforations, the packing ring having on its forward face a.groove extending longitudinally of the ring; a forward threadhaving portions disposed in the said groove and having loops interposed between the said portions, each loop extending rearwardly through the packing ring in alinement with one of the perforations; and a rear thread having portions extending along the rear face of the said annular flange respectively between consecutive perforations, and having loops between these consecutive thread portions, each loop extending forwardly through one of the perforations and through the bight of one of the loops of the forward thread.

3. A lamp including, in combination, a forwardly open casing; a door secured to the mouth of the casing and including a lens; a reflector disposed within the casing and provided with an annular flange parallel to the rear face of the lens, the flange having spaced perforations; a packing ring interposed between the said flange and the lens and extending in front of the perforations, the

as changes packing ring having on its forward face a groove extending longitudinally of the ring to divide the forward ring face into two concentric parts each of which is forwardly convexed in transverse section and adapted to bear against the lens independent of the other part; and means for securin the pack ing ring to the said annular ange; the

securing means including forward portions disposed in the said groove out of contact with the lens, and other portions extending through the acking ring respectively opposite the said perforations.

Signed at Detroit, Michigan, June 11th,

CHARLES E. GODLE Y. 

